HAGERSTOWN — Turn back the clock to 2006. North Hagerstown 44, South Hagerstown 0.

Keep the same score, just move the ticker to 2009.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Hagerstown Gridiron Classic trophy remained on the north side of town as the Hubs dismantled their neighborly rival on Friday night at Mike Callas Stadium.

“Wow,” smiled North coach Dan Cunningham after accepting the trophy. “I’m a little stunned.”

It was the North (4-6, 2-2) football team leaving South (2-8, 1-3) stunned, and the Hubs did it from the very beginning on both sides of the line as they took a 28-24-1 lead in the series.

Derek Black returned the opening kickoff 35 yards to the North 48 and the Hubs, with the aid of a South penalty, drove 52 yards, with A.J. Staley scoring from South’s 6.

Immediately, the North defense went to work, spearheaded by Dylan Dopson’s 21-yard sack of quarterback Hunter Phillips — the loss was partially offset by to a North penalty. A bad snap on third-and-8 was costly for the Rebels as the Hubs jumped on the loose ball to set up a short field at South’s 35.

Anthony Winter ran for 19 yards to help set up his own 3-yard touchdown, and quickly the Hubs led 12-0 with 3:37 left in the first quarter.

“I thought we had our own way on the first drive and that set the tone,” said Cunningham.

Zach Eppard, Greg Pheabus and Zach Schreiber took turns with defensive stops in the second quarter as South went three-and-out on four straight possessions.

“That was part of our game plan, to pressure Phillips,” said Cunningham. “The defense did a great job. All 11 did a great job beating their man with stunts.”

Meanwhile, North’s offense kept rolling. After Joe Mattei returned a punt 29 yards, Winter scored from the 7 with 5:57 remaining in the first half.

Starting its next drive from the South 48, North needed just two plays, the second Steve Coccodrilli’s play-action 43-yard scoring connection to Black with 4:10 left in the half.

After the fourth quick three-and-out by South, North romped 72 yards behind signal-caller Lynn Lowman, who finished the march off with three straight completions. He hit Black for 34 yards, Desmond Meade for 21 and Pheabus out of the backfield for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 31-0 following the PAT.

“That was some fun tonight on that field,” said Lowman, playing in his last prep football game. “Getting Greg that TD was like the old days with the Giants in junior football.”

South crossed midfield for the first and only time all night in the final minute of the half on a 46-yard pass from Phillips to Nick Stubbs, but a faulty snap on a 30-yard field goal attempt by David Savage kept South off the scoreboard.

North scored twice in the final period under a running clock. Anthony Wells scored from the 2 with 8:45 remaining, then broke loose for a 24-yard score with a minute to play.

“We played tonight the way we’ve played all year,” said distraught South coach Greg Kellick. “We had no blocking. They came right at us. We really came out flat.”

North’s defense was stingy, allowing minus-13 yards rushing on 23 tries and 51 yards in total offense.

“That was the objective,” said Pheabus, who finished his North career as the Hubs’ all-time leader in tackles. “We pushed their line, hit their gaps and created havoc.”

The Hubs racked up 263 yards rushing, including 119 on 26 carries by Winter and 83 yards on 14 carries by Staley. In addition, North passed for 132 yards between Coccodrilli and Lowman.

However, Winter couldn’t hop around in the celebration huddle as the Hubs accepted the winners’ trophy. He suffered a severe ankle injury in the third quarter and his foot was heavily wrapped. Cunningham said the team doctor did not think it was broken since he had movement, but at the least it was a severe sprain.

Dulaney Williams knows that everyone doubts the South Hagerstown football team.

Alex Wolters bleeds red and black and is ready to stamp his imprint.

Two of the seniors who will take to the Mike Callas Stadium turf on Friday in the 53rd renewal of the North-South football game are ready to end their prep careers on a positive note.

“It all comes down to this game,” said Wolters, a senior two-way guard. “It’s about giving everything you’ve got. I hope we come out with the same result as last year.”

North prevailed 28-27 in overtime last year for its sixth straight win in the series, which the Hubs lead 27-24-1.

“Last year was a heartbreaking loss,” said Williams, a flanker/cornerback for the Rebels who will be playing in his second Hagerstown Gridiron Classic. “We want to come out and prove our worth to people. Records are nothing.”

Expectations during preseason were for better results than each school has produced to date. North owns the better record at 3-6; the Rebels have struggled to a 2-7 mark.

South senior Xavier Richardson, who missed last year’s contest with an ACL injury, says the Rebels are better than their record indicates.

“We saw the mentality we could have in the win over Boonsboro,” said the tailback who also doubles at linebacker. “If we’d have played like that all the time, we’d have had three or four more wins. Every time we made a mistake, our heads would go down.”

After being smacked around by Middletown and Walkersville with little defense and plenty of mistakes, the Rebels played easily their best game of the year in a 21-0 win over the Warriors.

“Our record is not because the kids have lacked effort,” said South coach Greg Kellick. “Things happen with 15-, 16-year-old kids not always being in the right spots.”

North senior linebacker Greg Pheabus will make his third appearance in the city battle and expects to feel the nerves.

“I had butterflies my first varsity game and I still get them every Friday night,” he said. “This is the game you have to win. You know all the boys from the other team and you see them on a daily basis. It’s important.”

North, however, must rebound after a 12-6 loss to Boonsboro last Friday, another game marred by turnovers and penalties.

“We just haven’t met our expectations this year,” said North coach Dan Cunningham. “We’re still a young team, but at the same time excuses only go so far. Nothing is as bad as it seems ... sometimes it’s not as good. We’re right in the middle. We’ve had ups and downs and that’s inconsistency.”

The Hubs have not made the playoffs since 2006 and the Rebels haven’t been there since 2002. There are other common areas between the two teams this year — turnovers and penalties.

“It’s a cliche, but turnovers and penalities have hurt,” said Kellick. “Early in the year you accept them and correct them. But the mistakes have not been eliminated. (The players) are just not doing in the game what they’re shown in practice.”

And injuries have taken a toll also.

South junior tailback Nick Stubbs has been hampered throughout the year but said on Monday he is fit and ready to go 100 percent.

“A healthy Nick can break a play anywhere,” said Kellick. “Our line has to play well and get Nick and X (Richardson) open.”

Cunningham said the Hubs have to play well on defense.

“South can be explosive with those two and we can’t match their size on the line,” he noted.

And the Hubs hope junior tailback Anthony Winter comes with his ‘A’ game after being held under 100 yards in the loss to Boonsboro, coming off a school-record 264 yards rushing the previous week against Williamsport.

“Anthony has been a pleasant surprise,” said Cunningham. “He is so explosive. He can change a game.”

Williams knows Winter is the Hubs’ man.

“The spotlight is on him,” said Williams. “He’ll have a bull’s-eye on his back.”